The Space Between
by AmandaFaye
Summary: Capt. Gregg helps a family member deal with death. Edited and reposted


_**Author's note: **I do not own The Ghost and Mrs. Muir.I really hate inventing names, and have borrowed other names as well. This is part of the series begun back in From this Day On, if you have not read the stories related to that- turn back now, read them, then read this. This story is Easter related, just not to bunnies and eggs. Dashire has morphed into Cashire. _

"Jenny, good morning!" Carolyn greeted her goddaughter over the phone. "What can I do for you?" Seconds later, the smile on her face evaporated. "I'd heard he was ill, I'm sorry, sweetie. Is Dave okay? Daniel and I will be right over. Can we do anything for you?"

As she hung up, her husband appeared beside her. "Is something wrong with Jenny? The child's not.."

"She is fine, they both are- Dave's grandfather died last night at a hospital in Philly. His aunt didn't call them until this morning to let him know. I thought we should maybe go over there."

"Of course, my dear. " He popped out, then back in again, carrying a light jacket. "It's still a bit chilly," Daniel explained as he settled the wrap around her shoulders.

"I wish you could pop both of us, this once," she sighed as they went out to the car. "But I'm glad you aren't as eager to drive as **some **ghosts...Tris- he won't say anything - idiotic will he?"

Answering as he opened the door for her, Daniel shook his head. "No. The lad is all heart, he'll be appropriate. " Then, he popped into the vehicle himself for the short drive to the Farnon home. It might have been more efficient for him to teleport there directly himself, but he wanted to be with Carolyn if she had need of him.

As it was early in the day and few calls had had time to be made, their car was the first one at the simple home Dave had bought from his parents when they took off for Australia several years ago. Carolyn wondered briefly if they'd come back- if the funeral could wait for them to.

Dashire met them at the door. "I've got Tris making the rounds to the family. He would have popped to Gull Cottage, but she needed to hear your voice, dear lady."

Carolyn kissed her old friend on the cheek then followed his directions to the living room where Jenny sat making phone calls while Dave was in the bedroom packing an overnight bag.

Seeing her cousin, the younger woman rose and embraced her then hugged the ghost. "Thanks for coming. Dave's been very - shut down since the call came. I think he's both torn up and royally angry at his aunt for not letting him know anything much until now."

"Are you okay?" Carolyn asked, glancing down at the girl's barely showing pregnant stomach.

"Junior's doing the cha cha, but I'm fine other than that. I told him or her that Uncle Danny will teach them the hornpipe when they get here, not before. Gotta wait five months."

"I prefer the waltz," Daniel smiled, pulling his ear as he gave his wife a fond look. "Would you like me to go check on him?"

"Thanks," Jenny smiled.

"Now get off your feet, young lady," Dashire ordered, appearing beside them.

"Dash, she is not sick," Carolyn advised as the girl plunked down rather than argue.

"And I intend for her to stay not sick."

"Dash- why don't you go make some coffee," Carolyn suggested gently.

"You want to get rid of me," he accused. "And she is not allowed coffee."

"Yes. I forgot. Well, go get something. "

In the meantime, Daniel had popped to the bedroom, where Dave was staring at the closet, pushing things around.

"Lad?" Daniel called out softly.

"Oh, Captain, I was hoping you'd be here soon," Dave tiredly replied. "Would you - mind coming along to the funeral with me. It's day after tomorrow, I think. I'm going up to Philly, to help my aunt with the details, but the service will be here.. family plot.."

"I'm sure we'll all be there," Daniel said, realizing that the boy's mind was less than coherent at the moment.

"Right- but I meant as a ghost. I'd like you to come with me as a ghost to - I'm not sure if it should be to the hospital or to his house or the room at the care facility where Aunt Mavis had stuck him.. or the cemetary? Where would he be?"

"Be?" the captain asked.

"Uh- yeah. I hate to think of him wandering around not knowing what to do- like Molly did..and I guess he might look younger than when he died, so it might be hard to find him, I'm not sure I'd recognize him young..Have you guys ever thought about starting a Ghost 101 course, like Molly talked about?"

Daniel opened his mouth to try and let the young man down easy, but he'd already rushed on, "I thought about asking Tris- he is my best friend, but I respect you, sir. You seem so wise and all, that well, I'd like the first ghost he meets to be you..and you're the head of the family."

"David, sit down,'' Daniel barked.

When the startled man obeyed, he continued, "Now, you want me to come with you to find your grandfather's ghost, correct?" Dave nodded, then before Daniel could say more, he began to talk again.

"Please. It's got to be confusing for him. And maybe it'd be easier for you ghosts to go alone, but you don't know what he looks like, so it might be easier if I'm with you- maybe Blackie too, but Grandpa was already in that home thing when he got here, so he doesn't know him either. Blast Aunt Mavis. But he'd given her power of attorney, so there wasn't anything I could do- and I was so busy being happy - because of Jen and the baby, and then the other weddings, and Tris coming home, finding Molly... all of it. "

"Son, he would not have begrudged you happiness. "

"I know, but - I only went up there every few weeks to visit...it seemed like there'd always be enough time. " Dave swallowed painfully. "Then, he was diagnosed with cancer, and that was just a few weeks ago...it was so fast...and it was so hard to see him like that, losing himself."

"Sometimes, it is like that, or even faster, " Daniel agreed, thinking of Sean O'Casey's instant death. "It seems like it is better to go rapidly, than spend months lingering."

"Yeah, just- I wasn't ready."

"No one ever is, even if with a hundred years to get ready for it. There's just not enough time." He made a decision. Despite his doubts of how useful this would be, he'd go with the lad. "When did you want to head out?"

"Soon as possible. It shouldn't take long to find him- and then head back...to go through the funeral motions. Mavis wouldn't understand ghosts. She barely understand the living."

"Will your parents make it back in time for the service?"

"Mavis said she tried to reach them- their sheep station in the outback has unreliable phone service- she doesn't want to wait." Dave cleared his throat, "You might recall that before she moved to Philly, Jane Shoemaker was one of Auntie's best friends."

That explained much.

There was a knock on the lintel, then Tristan stuck his head in. "Captain, I notified everyone. Sean and Molly popped in directly and are in with the ladies. Blackwood promised to be here as soon as he's more awake and showered. Doctor Lynne said she remembers your grandfather, Dave, and will be over once she's cleared her patient list some. Sig, too. Candy has to go in to class - she and her husband will be here this evening, Adam said he'd catch a ride with them or give them one. Claymore was actually nice, he'll be around in a few hours. Jon will be here for the funeral, he can't leave school sooner for non immediate family. But - I told him you and the Captain might be arriving later, Dave, so he will meet you if you send word of when and where."

"Thanks, buddy, " Dave nodded. "Uh- you haven't ever been Down Under- have you?"

"That's one trip I've never made," Tristan confessed, "but let me work on it. There might be a ghost who has who can pull something off. " He blipped out to see what he could do.

"Tris," Daniel called. The younger ghost reappeared.

"Aye, Captain?"

"Let Jon know we'll be there early this afternoon."

"Aye, aye, sir."

Once they convinced Jenny that she'd be more helpful if she stayed in Schooner Bay and settled the funeral details, Daniel and Dave hit the road. Dave promised Tris that if he got tired on the drive home he'd holler for a relief driver. Somewhat to Daniel's surprise, there was not the patient, let's humor the guy tone in Dave's voice that he expected. He had the disconcerting impression that it was likely that Tristan Matthews would be driving him part of the way home, at least.

"Take care of my guy, Captain," Jenny whispered as she hugged him goodbye. "Don't let him lose his cool too badly around Auntie Dearest."

"Of course," Daniel vowed, glancing at his wife out of the corner of his eye. How often had she chided him about a temper? He wondered what she'd think of him being charged with being the cool head in things. He found out when she kissed him.

"You can handle things, darling."

Around one thirty, Dave's car pulled up to a simple house. They had already been to the hospital and the nursing home, but not gotten very far in either place. Paperwork and efficiency had already erased any trace of Dave's grandfather. New patients had replaced him, and Daniel had been able to tell him within moments that no ghosts of any sort lingered.

"Well, I didn't really think he'd hang out there long, if at all. Home would be the logical place for him to go, right? That's where you and Dashire stayed for sure, and Sig. "

Daniel could not argue with that logic, so now they were at the old man's last home. Somehow, he'd managed to keep his daughter from selling it before now.

"I've got a key, he sent it to me before she put him in that place," Dave said. "But - that's not to say she might not have changed the lock."

"Don't worry," Daniel smiled thinly. "I don't need a key to get us in."

"If you guys had need of money and such, you could really be dangerous," Dave noted, impressed.

"According to Claymore, we are."

When the key was placed in the lock, sure enough, Mavis had changed the lock. After she was called several things besides her name, Daniel gestured slightly and the door swung open.

"There's no silent alarm to trip, I hope?" Dave asked, sure that his friend would hear if there was.

"No, apparently she doesn't place that much value on this place," the ghost nodded, after pausing to listen to be sure. "Or enough to keep the dust bunnies from breeding." His frowning eyes swept the room more thoroughly than a broom had in some time.

"I guess she never really planned on him coming home," Dave commented bitterly. "Come on, let's find him. Grandpa? Boy? It's me - Dave..uh- this is Captain Gregg- Jenny's foster step father, cousin in law..It's okay, he knows all about ghosts.."

With commendable stoicity, Daniel didn't laugh at that last line, merely followed his young relative, informing him now and then that he saw no other ghosts in whichever room they were in when he was asked.

"There aren't any in the house at all, are there?" Dave sighed forty five minutes later.

''No, son. "

"I don't know where else to look...maybe he'd show up at the funeral - or would he stay with his body? I mean, does it ever happen that ghosts don't know to get out of their body, but are trapped there?"

"Only in Edgar Allen Poe scenarios," Daniel shuddered. "All cases I've heard of, my own included, we just get up as normally, even if we haven't been able to for some time, then realize that we have a freedom we never had before or catch sight of - ourselves still lying there, diminished."

"Ugh."

"Yes, that rather sums up those first moments, which is why I, and some others, have made it a point to be there when loved ones make the transition. I tried to be there for as many of the crew as I knew to be there for- some did slip past."

"Tristan."

"Aye, among others. Elroy. The majority of them went to the light, rather than becoming ghosts."

Dave tensed. "You think he did that, went to the light."

"Yes, son, " Captain Gregg affirmed softly. Trying to think of something comforting, asked, "Would you like to tell me about him?"

Nodding, Dave sat down on the floor, for lack of a better spot. "He was a great guy...I never heard him say a bad, unkind thing about anyone. Not even Aunt Mavis, but well, I guess you have to like your kids, grandkids, and so on, even if they're obnoxious."

"That'll be news to Dashire," Daniel commented ruefully.

"Oh. Right. Anyway, one of the older grandkids than me nicknamed him Boy...couldn't pronounce grandpa I guess...anyway, it stuck for all of us..He was wise- you know? Not really book smart, like Jenny, but that timeless kind of wisdom. One of those people who'd do anything to help anyone..One time- when he was visiting my parents, right after grandma died, he had a cold or flu, shouldn't have gotten out of bed- but I wanted him to watch cartoons with me. So he did, in the living room. I was really looking forward to Junior getting to know him.."

"Junior?"

"Jen and I haven't settled on a name yet- or names, since we don't know if it's a girl or boy."

"Maybe you could name a boy for your grandfather?"

Dave laughed a little. "I would **not **do that to a baby. No way. His name was - Addie Oyle. That is not something I'd stick a kid with."

"I quite agree. "

"Besides, Molly is predicting a girl- and I trust her instincts. Jen's got a few really pretty names picked out if she's right..Amberly Irissa is the top runner at the moment."

"There are times I regret your and your wife's love of science fiction," Daniel tried to sound stern.

"Why? When she told me that my de facto father in law was a ghost, I just said it was cool."

"Actually- you said, 'Cool- like Elvira?' Then Martha glared at me and said, 'Nope, he's not at all Blythe.' "

Dave started to laugh, then broke off as he realized what he'd almost done.

"There's no rule that says you can't laugh again," Daniel advised softly.

Dave shrugged and went on, " Which brings me to- Boy was a good man, but so are you, Sean, Tristan, Dashire, Elroy, Sig, and Molly- well, she's a good lady- you know what I mean. Why are you all hanging around, don't get me wrong, I'm glad you are- butjust why?" He couldn't keep the lorn note out of his voice at the end. "Why? Why'd you all stay- and Bobby Muir- who sounded like a creep go on? Why'd my grandparents, who weren't creeps, but as good as you guys go?"

"Blackie might be a better one to ask," Daniel suggested, tugging his ear.

"Yeah, but he's a few hours drive away- and he's never been a ghost..just sees them."

"Being a ghost- I don't think it's either a reward or punishment," Daniel began slowly. "Though certainly, I've been at the deathbeds of crewmates who went on to the light, and from the look on their face- I'd say that they definitely got the better deal. Despite that, I am not sorry to have lingered...Until fairly recently, I thought that I was here because that blithering idiot Mark Finley's great great grandfather labeled me a suicide, with the help of my blasted housekeeper and ex fiance', and I had to clear my good name. " A ripple of thunder reminded Dave that his friend was a bit more than an average man. "But- now, I am quite certain the reason I am still here is Carolyn, perhaps her children as well. "

"I doubt Carolyn is the reason the others are here."

"Sean and Dashire swore loyalty to me, long ago. Plus, I suspect that Divine providence had taken in account that Claymore would need Dashire's help when he did. Two, Molly's uncertain fate held Sean in - not what the church terms limbo, but it is a good word for how he felt. Molly did not know where to find Sean, so stayed, looking for him. .." Daniel trailed off. "Siegfried stayed to keep an eye on his family, as per his word, until they kicked him out."

"What about Elroy and Tristan?"

"I suspect Elroy got lost," Daniel chuckled, then his voice saddened slightly. "Tristan- his case is harder to call - and none of what I said may be right...I don't recall being offered a choice- and suspect none of the others were as well. I simply- found myself without a body. And- speaking of Elroy- he and Jon will be expecting us, so we'd better get a move on."

"Elroy?" Dave asked, shaking his head in perplexity. "What's he got to do with anything?"

"As you know, Jon is studying to work on a cruise ship. Tristan and I may have taught Elroy a bit more about ghosthood, but his sea skills are still- deplorable. So, Jon invited him to come along and try to learn a bit more. That appealed to Elroy- he knew that Tristan had hung out, as it were, with you and Jenny at college."

"Something I didn't know at the time." Dave rose, then cleared his throat. "So, there's no chance.."

"I won't say no chance, but it's not likely, son," Daniel shook his head kindly.

"How much I miss him doesn't matter, huh?"

"Of course it does, it's just not a factor now."

As they locked up and went out to the the car, Dave sighed again, looking up to the sky. "Just- the space between goodbye and eternity seems so long."

"Yes, it can seem that way," the captain agreed, thinking how long eternity had once seemed until his world had turned rightside up when three blondes, a housekeeper and mutt had invaded it. "But sometimes, forever is not that long."

PHI 1:20 I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.

I Cor 13:12 For now we see in a mirror indirectly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, just as I have been fully known. 13:13 And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.

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_**Cast List:**_

_**Carolyn Muir (Gregg Miles) Matriarch of the "clan." Mother of Jon(athan) and Candy, wife of Daniel.**_

_**Daniel Gregg (a.k.a. Daniel Miles) Patriarch, Ghost.**_

_**Candy Avery nee Muir - Carolyn's daughter from her first marriage.**_

_**Jonathon Muir (Jon/Jonathan) - Carolyn's son from her first marriage.**_

_**Jenny Williams Farnon - Carolyn's third cousin and goddaughter who comes to live with her at Gull Cottage when she is orphaned.**_

_**Claymore Gregg - the legal heir of Daniel Gregg - however as the ghost will tell you that blasted barnacle is NOT his nephew or anything else.**_

_**Martha Grant Peavey - Carolyn's housekeeper and friend.**_

_**Ed Peavey - Martha's cherry-pie-loving husband.**_

_**Dave Farnon - Jenny's husband.**_

_**Thom Avery - Candy's husband.**_

_**Linden Avery - Thom's mother, a widow, a.k.a. Dr. Lynne**_

_**Lord Charles Dashire - Daniel's good friend from their days alive, helped Claymore (Clay) Reunite the family; Thom and Candy now live in his house.**_

_**Adam Pierce - Initially, Dashire's lawyer, now handles the entire family's legal affairs.**_

_**Sean O'Casey - Daniel's first mate and best friend in life and afterlife.**_

_**Molly O'Casey - Sean's recently reunited wife.**_

_**Elroy Applegate - Hapless ghost-seaman who needs ghost lessons.**_

_**Scruffy - first family dog, deceased.**_

_**Dakota - Scruffy's grandchild, current family mutt.**_

_**Tristan Matthews - Seaman from Daniel's crew, now a ghost. Not on the inner circle with Dash, Sean and Daniel in life, but added in death. In love with Candy.**_

_**Siegfried Matthews - Not a seaman, Tris' older brother who talks very, very fast and lives with Dr. Lynne.**_

_**Tris and Sig were modeled after the Yorkshire vets in All Creatures Great and Small.**_

_**James and Helen Wight - the town vets.**_

_**Stories in the From This Day On Universe:**_

_**From This Day On - Resolutions - In Good Spirits - Past Sins - Wedding Conspiracy - Martha's Wish Granted - I Won't Say Goodbye - When Legends Meet - Knowing the Truth That Haunts Me - Brotherly Love - Heart's Memories - The Space Between - The Duel**_


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